


Reassurance

by Anonymous



Series: I'll Keep You Safe [1]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Alpha Tony Stark, Angst, Claiming Bites, Hurt Peter Parker, Implied Mpreg, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Omega Peter Parker, Panic Attacks, Protective Tony Stark, Sensory Overload, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-17
Updated: 2017-08-13
Packaged: 2018-12-03 06:41:37
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 14
Words: 17,203
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11526678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Peter choose to zone out after that, his thoughts only becoming more depressing the more he was reminded of how he would never compare to Avengers like Mr. Stark or Thor or anyone for that matter. He wasn't even trusted to go on real missions anymore, he was a one-time wonder when they were short-handed in a dire situation. Going home, Peter laid on his bed and considered how that wasn't even because he was an omega, but simply because he was just a dumb kid in their minds. He wanted reassurance that he had worth to Mr. Stark, that he could prove himself once more if he was only given the chance. If Mr. Stark or anyone at the Avengers found out what he was though, that would never happen. So for now, he was stuck just waiting, hoping that his second chance would finally come.





	1. The Beginning

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Español available: [Reassurance](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13862775) by [Astrid3490](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Astrid3490/pseuds/Astrid3490)



> This is roughly based off the movie, so spoiler warning, but I'm also doing things a bit differently at the same time.

As the substitute teacher rambled on and on about material that had been taught last week, no one in the class was paying attention. Peter sat towards the back of the class, because the seating was alphabetical, and sadly this meant that people were more chatty around him since it was easier to whisper without getting reprimanded. Today's topic was as politically-correct as always, with the four parties involved (none of them omegas themselves) speculating about, you guessed it! Superheroes.

"Omegas can't be superheroes, it's as easy as that."

"Yeah, and why not?"

"Imagine this. An unmated omega superhero gets captured by a villain, and goes into heat-"

"Wouldn't an omega superhero be on suppressants?"

"If they're captured they wouldn't be able to take their suppressants, now don't interrupt and just listen. They get captured, and boom! Villain finds out their secondary gender and mates them. Now the omega has no choice but to be on the side of the villain. That's why omegas would make terrible superheroes."

"What if it was a mated omega superhero?"

"What kind of alpha would let their omega mate do something dangerous like fight superpowered lunatics?"

MJ cut into their conversation with that comment, adding, "Why must you assume that the omega is mated to an alpha? Why not a beta, or another omega?"

It was conversations like these that made Peter shrink into his seat and do everything he could to make himself disappear. No one except Aunt May and Ned knew about his secondary gender, but at times like these he felt like someone might turn to him and just  _know_ that he was different, that he really wasn't a beta.

His heart began to race even faster when one of the group actually did turn to him, as if he could read Peter's mind, and asked, "Do you know any superheroes that are omegas? You know, from your Stark internship?" 

More eyes turned towards him, as apparently many had actually been eavesdropping into the debate. The substitute teacher didn't even notice, just continued to read from the textbook, word for word. Peter usually felt bad for subs, because it always seemed like they either knew a lot about the subject and the normal teacher didn't really leave them anything to teach (or the students didn't want to be taught anything) or they had absolutely no clue what was going on. 

"Well, uh... A-all the heroes I've met have been beta or alpha, but it's possible t-that they were using scent-blockers or just didn't want to openly share that kind of information," Peter stuttered through his response, tempted to make a comment about Spider-Man but deciding against it. Everyone seemed pretty satisfied with his generic answer that anyone could've gotten off the internet, and they turned away from him. He exhaled deeply, and went back to sitting in his desk quietly for the rest of the class, unnoticed. The conversation around him, however, did not change subject and kept going strong.

"Figures that most heroes are alphas, though, like they're all either really smart or really strong, you know? Look at Tony Stark, he's an alpha and-"

"Again," MJ rolled her eyes, "omegas can be strong and intelligent too."

Peter choose to zone out after that, his thoughts only becoming more depressing the more he was reminded of how he would never compare to Avengers like Mr. Stark or Thor or anyone for that matter. He wasn't even trusted to go on real missions anymore, he was a one-time wonder when they were short-handed in a dire situation. Going home, Peter laid on his bed and considered how that wasn't even because he was an omega, but simply because he was just a dumb kid in their minds. He wanted reassurance that he had worth to Mr. Stark, that he could prove himself once more if he was only given the chance. If Mr. Stark or anyone at the Avengers found out what he was though, that would never happen. So for now, he was stuck just waiting, hoping that his second chance would finally come. 

 


	2. Lose Yourself

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little bit of a time skip

The feeling of drowning was a feeling he was not familiar with, and it terrified him. There were a few times as Spider-Man that the thought of death crossed his mind a few times, but it never really dawned upon him that he could actually die until now. As his lungs burned and screamed for air, and his brain yelled at him to fight to breach the water's surface to get oxygen, he thought about how this could be it for him. His limbs were entangled and he couldn't follow through on his instinct to save himself, because no matter what he could try right now his time was quickly running out.

He thought about his aunt and Ned and how much it would hurt them if he just left their lives so suddenly, because no one could've predicted he would've died this young. He finally stopped fighting his restraints, and water forced its way into his throat as he lost control of his body. The edges of his vision became fuzzy and his consciousness was taken from him, and all Peter could focus on was how much his entire being ached. He was cold and in agonizing pain, and that was when he passed out entirely. 

Waking up to an iron face very close to his startled Peter more than it should have. He coughed and heaved and turned before he puked water everywhere, and he felt  weak as he tried to support himself and sit up once he was finished. He cried a bit when Mr. Stark started to scold him and get angry with him, even when Peter tried to explain himself. 

But as Mr. Stark got more exasperated with him, his alpha voice began to mix in, and suddenly Peter began to sob uncontrollably. He was tired and cold and barely managing to stay awake, and his inner omega was telling him that no one was happy with his efforts, so there was no reason to even defend himself at this point. Mr. Stark was angry, and probably hated him right now, and Peter had never felt like such a failure. 

"Hey kid, are you okay? Please don't cry, I'm not very good at this comforting thing, you know? Here, I have some heaters built into your suit, there, now you're not shivering as much," Mr. Stark sounded awkward and uncomfortable, and it only made Peter curl into himself more for being the one to cause those negative emotions. He felt lightheaded and it was becoming harder and harder to breathe, and he just wanted someone there more than anything.

"C-can you c-come out of t-the suit?" Peter stumbled over his own tongue, wheezing between each word.

"Here's the thing, you're lucky I'm connected to Wi-Fi right now or you'd be dead." Mr. Stark's voice didn't sound the least bit apologetic, and Peter could only turn and begin to vomit once again. He wasn't even here himself to tell Peter how much he messed up, he was simply wasting Mr. Stark's precious time out of a probably jam-packed schedule. His panic attack hit full force at this point, and all Peter wanted to know was why he was reacting this badly to the situation. Even if he had just had a near-death experience, he knew he was definitely embarrassing himself and likely making himself look even weaker than people already thought he was. 

"Peter, should I take you to the hospital or something? I'll have to likely take you back to the base and get you out of that suit so there's no questions asked, or maybe we can see if-"

"A-are you d-driving a car right now?!" Was all Peter could manage before he passed out completely, the hyperventilation depriving him of the already scarce oxygen reaching his brain.

-Tony's POV-

"Oh Jesus. Now what do I do?" 

 _" I suggest getting Mr. Parker some medical attention immediately,"_ Friday's reprimanding voice spoke in his ear. 

"Obviously. Also, it looks like we're going to cut this trip short, because I'm going to New York." 

And once he was on his way to NY, Pepper called him to remind him of the important stuff that he was not doing that he really should be, but he couldn't focus on her words. It was his responsibility to make sure this kid didn't die, and right now, he was doing a pretty crap job. He kept thinking of the first time he saw the kid laying on the ground, and how his heart had skipped a beat when he thought that he had actually lost him. It also would've been really tragic to explain to the kid's aunt some crazy made-up story, or maybe they would've told her the truth. Who knows. Unless the kid actually does manage to die this time, that thought only causing bile to rise up Tony's throat. 

Once he got to the hospital, he didn't even ask the nurse where the kid's room was, because he hadn't let the suit leave Peter's side since he had gotten to this grotesque place. He barged in, and was met with what appeared to be a doctor and a nurse.

"Well, Mr. Stark. I would normally be surprised, but with this here," she gestured towards the suit.

"Yeah, yeah, I can give an autograph later, how is he?" 

"Aside from the side-effects of drowning, he isn't healing like he should be," the doctor's face was grim, and the nurse excused herself quietly, leaving the room quickly.

"What's wrong? Did someone give him something he's allergic to or something?"

"No sir, he's going through Rejection. I'll give you two some alone time, but I suggest that you call anyone you think may be able to help him, if not comfort him."

At the word Rejection, Tony's brain stopped dead in its tracks. Betas didn't go through Rejection, that was-

And then he inhaled. For the first time, Peter didn't smell like neutral nothingness. He smelled sweet, like fresh linen and flowers and a summer's breeze. The background check he had done on the kid was thorough, and it should've picked up something like this. He had endangered not only a minor, but an omega at that. This little fact shouldn't have changed anything, but it did. Looking at Peter in that hospital bed, hooked up to dozens of monitors and IVs, looking vulnerable and deathly, it hit Tony like a train. 

And Rejection, was Peter dating someone? Was there a girl, a guy? Who was he supposed to call? His aunt was a good start, so he went with that. He just told her that Peter had been hurt and gave her directions to the hospital, and when she got there, she talked to the doctor and then asked Tony what he was doing there in the first place anyways. Doc somehow bailed him out of a shitstorm of lies by saying, "He's the one that brought Peter in."

"Tony, were you with him when it started? Do you know who it is? Maybe we can contact them and convince them to mate Peter anyways, maybe if they see how much he's suffering-"

"I wasn't with him when it started. Whoever his omega wants to mate with, I have no clue who it is. Did he ever mention anyone from school?"

"I think there might've been a girl he liked. Maybe I can call his friend Ned and see if he can get her contact information. I'll go do that now. Thank you so much, Mr. Stark." She pulled out her cell phone, and made her way into the busy hallway. Tony sat down, pulling a chair close to Peter's bedside, and rubbed his temples with his hand. She returned not that long after, saying that Ned was going to reach out to the girl and see what he could do. She pulled up a second chair alongside him, joining him in a silent wait for something good to happen. 

After what could've been twenty minutes or an hour, Peter began to stir. His eyelids fluttered, and his whole body shook in the bed as he coughed. His eyes weren't their usual dark brown, but instead a shining omega gold. It meant he was likely completely animalistic, relying on instincts instead of logical thought. So it was a surprise when the kid reached a hand out and grasped Tony's own hand, pulling it towards him so he could wrap his other hand around it.

"Peter, are you okay?" Tony tried to pull away, but he got a high-pitched whine of protest in response, and it startled him enough to give up control of his appendage. He pressed the call button on the side of the bed, and soon the doctor returned. She had given her name at some point, but at this point it wasn't something at the front of Tony's mind. 

"He's awake, that's good. And it seems he's sought comfort from you, Mr. Stark," she lightly smiled as she voiced her observations, meanwhile Peter's aunt didn't seem as happy. 

"I thought omegas sought comfort in their family members when they're in distress." Her voice wasn't raised, but her tone was filled with spite.

"In most cases, yes, but Mr. Stark is an unmated alpha, and it's possible that Peter here sees him as a potential solution to his problem." The doctor started doing something with one of the monitors, and May's face only twisted in discomfort at her explanation. She gave Tony a look that could kill, and he tried to back away but Peter legitimately screamed this time around. The doctor, her lab coat said Dr. Carlson, Dr. Carlson raised an eyebrow at that, coming back around the bed to stand by the two adults. 

"I think we may have been looking at this wrong. Mr. Stark, I'd like you to remove your hand completely, please." It was Tony's turn to raise a brow to that suggestion, but listened to the medical professional (a real first for him) and removed his hand, which caused Peter to go ballistic. The kid sat up too quickly, aggravating some of the wires attached to his lithe body, grabbing Tony's arm and shoulder and yanking him down onto the bed with him. Tony grunted as he could feel the kid using his super strength to his advantage, and heard as May cried out and left the room. Dr. Carlson's expression was grim, but also hopeful at the same time. 

"Mr. Stark, I think you unknowingly Rejected Mr. Parker here. I'll leave you to your own devices on how you want to handle this situation, but I should go talk to the kid's aunt right now."

Looking back down at Peter, the kid simply wrapped his arms around Tony, pulling him closer and possibly cracking a few of his ribs with how tight he was holding him, and all Tony could think about was in how much deep shit he was in at the moment, and he didn't even know how it escalated this quickly. 


	3. Catcher in the Rye

-Tony's POV-

How did this even happen? Tony was pretty sure he had only come in physical contact with the kid a whole two times total, and yet his inner omega or whatever had decided he was a viable mate and that they should totally get together despite a massive age difference. Like who even needs logical thinking at this point, might as well throw any reason left to the wind. Peter's aunt was beyond pissed at him, mad enough to actually attempt to throw a punch, and if Tony hadn't ducked in time it probably would've hurt pretty bad. The look he gave her honestly reminded him of a look that Pepper would give him a lot, a look that translated into, _"Are you serious right now?"_

The poor woman probably thought that the whole internship was some pervy way to get into Peter's pants, but at this point if he tried to tell her the truth he'd likely only dig himself into a deeper hole. 

While May was currently receiving emergency counseling from some nice therapist from the hospital, Tony was now having yet another mid-life crisis. He really craved a strong drink right now. Honestly, with his blood pressure and drinking habits, he was probably way past the middle of his life. Another emphasis on the grand age difference between him and the kid, who was a _kid_. It was only becoming harder and harder to wrap his head around the concept that was actually going through and mating with Peter, because the thought alone made him cringe and crave something that would make him a lot less sober. Maybe he could bribe one of the nurses to slip him something potent from the hospital's supplies. 

He was now sat in a chair in the far corner of the cramped room, watching an unconscious Peter toss and turn in his sleep. Unlike a few hours ago, he was now sweaty and trembling. The noises, whines and groans, only gave away how much pain he was in. The Rejection process was even scarier than what he was taught in school when Tony was a teenager, and it dawned upon him that he could only let Peter suffer so much before he caved and did something stupid. Rejection was rare, because omegas had to become pretty attached to someone to even be Rejected in the first place, and usually if they were that attached to someone the person they liked felt similar emotions towards them. There was no way Peter felt this strong towards Tony, it just didn't seem plausible. 

The doctor, Tony had already forgotten her name again, had lectured Tony about how omegas could possibly die from the process. And if they didn't die, they were never the same, it was something that stayed with them for the rest of the lives. The only way to avoid all the disaster was for the omega to be mated with the person that caused the Rejection in the first place, and Tony knew this already, but it still stunned it to hear it out loud. To be told that he had to be the one to save the kid, but it was his choice in the end. 

The whole thing was biological crap. There was no way this helped in terms of an evolutionary standpoint, it only fueled society's stereotype that omegas were nothing without a mate. Sure, Tony had been with plenty of omegas and betas and alphas alike, but he had never attempted to mate anyone. The idea kind of terrified him, because once it was done it was irreversible. And what if, once he mated someone, they wanted nothing to do with him? He would never be able to mate anyone else, and his inner alpha would probably go through some messy turmoil and just make Tony hate himself more than he already did. 

It was why he had never mated Pepper, but that was also because she was an alpha. The two always fought each other for power, and it was rare that the two shared a sweet moment together without it taking a turn for the worse. 

Maybe if Tony had found love with an omega earlier it would've helped him, make him a better person. An omega's nature statistically helped relieve alphas of stress and bring balance to their lives. But Peter wasn't a normal omega, not in any way, shape, or form. The kid was super strong, his senses extra sensitive, and up until this fiasco Tony didn't even know that he was an omega. Peter craved adventure and danger and freedom, and the idea of being someone that couldn't be reigned in only made Tony think of Pepper. If he couldn't mate with Pepper, how could he mate with someone that reminded him of her? 

But as time passed through the late night, and Peter's whines turned to screams, and the heart monitor spiked and blood started pouring out of all orifices, Tony caved, just as he earlier predicted. The kid's aunt yelled at him as he told the doctor that he couldn't take it anymore, and nurses held her back as he held the kid's hand. 

Man, Tony was too sober for this. But if he had to be drunk or high to do this, then he didn't care about Peter enough. Obviously he had to feel something for Tony, or this wouldn't be happening. He pulled back the thin paper gown to reveal Peter's neck, and as their skin made contact, his eyes snapped open. Bright gold was now a bit duller, and he looked tired. A single, perfect tear rolled down the kid's cheek, and the whole moment seemed overly cinematic. Everything was eerily quiet at that moment, and as Tony leaned in, Peter didn't make a sound. Being that close to his face, he could feel the hot breath on his cheek, hear each heavy inhale and exhale. As his teeth connected with Peter's scent gland, and blood filled his mouth, the last thing he expected was for Peter to grab onto Tony's shoulder with his own teeth. 

When Tony pulled away, the bloody mess wasn't what put a shock through his system. It was Peter's eyes, back to their deep brown, shining with relief. And maybe, even a spark of something else, but it was hard to tell. But after only a few seconds of a connected stare, Peter went limp, passing out once more. Tony wiped away Peter's tears with his thumb, and collapsed to his knees next to the bed. He couldn't bring himself to leave the kid's side, so he knelt there and buried his head into Peter's side and began to silently weep. 

He had probably just ruined the last bit of purity left in his life. 


	4. Angst

-Tony's POV-

Throughout the day, Peter kept coming in and out of consciousness, but never really being fully there. Despite the brown coloring of his eyes, nothing Peter said or did had any sense of coherency. He almost behaved like he had just gotten out of surgery and the drugs hadn't fully left his system, because whenever he woke up it was usually for Tony to awkwardly help him go to the bathroom or have Tony spoon-feed him hospital mush. Some nurses and even Aunt May had offered to do it instead, but the idea of anyone helping ~~his~~ Peter right now in his vulnerable state causing an involuntary growl to resonate within Tony's chest. Ever since claiming Peter, Tony felt like he couldn't fully control himself, and he hadn't been able to leave Peter's side for even a second. He really just hoped these after-effects would wear off soon.

May absolutely hated him beyond reproach at this point. Her nephew was likely the only family she had left, and now he had just stripped her of that within the course of a day. Whenever Peter was partially awake, he would stare at Tony the entire time before he promptly passed out again. It was hard to read his expression in that state, but nonetheless it sent shivers down Tony's spine. May always seemed to excuse herself when this happened, unable to accept what had happened between the two. 

Tony also had to worry about Peter's reaction, because what if it wasn't Tony that had Rejected him? What if the doctor had made a mistake? The two were now bound for life, and what if Peter actually hated Tony's guts and could barely stand him? Looking back, Tony never really reached out to the kid, never mentored him like he should've been. The kid was young and eager to do the right thing, and because no one was watching him or taking action, Peter took things into his own hands. If those sensors hadn't been apart of his suit, Peter would be dead right now. 

Tony almost felt like he had used the kid. A wave of guilt cascaded over him, and once it hit there was no stopping the self-hate that washed over and consumed Tony's every thought. They had reached out to Spider-Man when they were short-handed, and didn't even offer him a place on the Avengers after he was a big contribution to their fight. Maybe if he hadn't been so young. Tony knew deep-down that they wanted to wait for Peter to grow up, get a shot a normal life as a teenager. But if he had done things differently, would they be in a similar scenario? If things had been done differently, would Peter have found someone else, or would it have just post-poned this chaos that was Tony being mated to someone that wasn't even close to half his age. 

And to make things all the better, it was in that thought that both Pepper Potts and Rhodey decided to walk into the room together. Thankfully his position wasn't compromising in any way, he was back to just sitting in a chair next to the bed, simply holding one of Peter's hands. 

"You could have just told me that something happened to the kid when you completely bailed on the company," Pepper started, and Tony realized that there probably wasn't a nurse or doctor that filled them in on what actually went down. 

"How bad is he?" Rhodey joined in, eyeing Peter's hand in Tony's. Of course, the great Tony Stark would never show any sort of affection unless some serious dying was happening. 

"And what's that smell?" Pepper wrinkled her nose, which caused Rhodey to take a deep inhale too and mimic Pepper. Tony knew that the room smelled really bad, because they had only been able to send in beta nurses to check Peter's vitals every few hours. It was the stale smell of abandoned omega with a stronger scent of pleased omega mixed with angry & overprotective alpha, with a faint hint of May's displeased omega (but seeing as she hadn't been in the room for awhile, it was actually hard to even pick up that anymore). 

"Tony, there's blood on your shirt, you should probably change," Pepper added when he just stared at them, not providing any answers. But instead of looking up at his shirt, he brought his hand up to his face, feeling for dried blood around his mouth. He was glad, for a second, that he had changed Peter into a new gown and cleaned Tony's own blood from the kid's face. 

He knew that some of the blood on his shirt was Peter's, but he knew some of it was also his own from Peter's desperate claiming bite. He had sloppily bandaged it himself, not wanting the nurse to come too close to the kid. 

"I got injured," he quipped, not wanting to admit out loud to his fellow grown adults that he was a hardcore cradle-robber. 

"Let me see," Pepper moved to get closer, and Tony couldn't help himself. He saw red, letting a particularly loud growl erupt from his throat. The last time he had growled at Pepper was when she was helping him replace the arc reactor in his chest, and she had shut him up pretty quickly with a pointed look. He hated growling at people, it was so inhuman and just not something that Tony enjoyed doing. Peter whimpered in response to the noise, and Tony tightened his grip on the boy's hand. 

Pepper had stopped in her tracks and taken a step back, but when Peter made that noise both her and Rhodey let their gazes snap over to the kid. Pepper seemed to have had it with the waiting for Tony's answers as to what happened, and she grabbed his chart and started reading. So much for doctor-patient confidentiality. 

"What the hell have you done, Tony?" She raised her voice and took a step forward again, and Tony felt his alpha pushing to the forefront of his mind. He tried to pull the reigns in and regain control, but she was getting too close to Peter and she was angry and Tony couldn't let anything happen to him when he was weak like this. 

"Pepper, his eyes are red, put your hands up and just back away," Rhodey tried to caution, but when the suit in the corner of the room came to life, that was when Pepper really listened to his advice. Tony didn't move from the kid's side, but the suit moved to stand at the end of the bed, arm raised and ready to fire. 

It was a great time for Peter to fully wake up, honestly. Because everything just froze in time when he sat up, looked at his surroundings, and spoke just four words.

"Did I miss something?"


	5. Recovery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N I actually wasn't going to post another chapter today but I work as a lifeguard and there was a hardcore storm so we all got let off work early today {which was a very pleasant surprise}

-Peter's POV-

Peter felt like his head was full of cotton. Even then, he wasn't sure if that was the best way to describe how he was feeling. Everything was groggy and didn't make much sense, but he knew one thing for sure, and that was the excruciating pain. His entire body ached, and it was worse than any case of the flu he had ever gotten. It was like every muscle fiber had been sent through a blender and then reinserted into his body, like all his bones had been filled with hot lava that was slowly eating away at him. The pressure inside his head was immense, and he wished he had drowned in that river. Every breath and shallow and even the slightest of movements just amplified everything, and there was nothing Peter could focus on that let him escape. He felt like he had failed gigantically in some way, but couldn't pinpoint how. Maybe it was because he had failed Mr. Stark. That had honestly made him feel pretty shitty. 

As time passed, whether it was seconds or minutes or hours, who knew, Peter became less and less aware of what was happening to him. His thoughts became less coherent, and he couldn't even focus on the pain. He felt himself simply slip away, and he wondered when it would be over, when death would finally consume him and he wouldn't have to go through with this anymore. He wished he could just ask someone to speed up the process for him, and it came down to him wondering about higher beings and if it was possible to just pray out and wonder if someone would take pity on him. 

He heard voices around him, but nothing really made sense. Eventually, he could feel himself awake, his eyes open and his brain responding, but Peter wasn't the one at the wheel. He felt something warm engulf him, and the pain lessened. His inner omega had come to make his dying moments more bearable, he supposed. He had heard that it happened sometimes, when a person was dying slowly. It was instinct, because maybe if the alpha or omega suffered then their human could be spared. But that was a theory that involved a lot of intense discussion about spirit animals, and Peter couldn't remember the finer details in his state. 

Later on, he felt a prick on his shoulder, and the feeling of being engulfed intensified. For a second, Peter was brought back to the real world, and he was brought face to face with Mr. Stark. With that eye contact, the pain went away completely, and Peter knew he had been saved. Maybe there wasn't a higher power, but Mr. Stark was there in person which meant that Peter was going to be okay. Peter hoped that when he was better Mr. Stark would still let him do another mission with the Avengers and not get mad at him. If Mr. Stark got mad with Peter, he felt like he might just break.

He slipped away again, but the pain never resurfaced. He kept waking up multiple times, but he felt dizzy and woozy and every time he really just wanted to go back to sleep again. But Mr. Stark was always there, every time. Peter would watch through bleary eyes as Mr. Stark would feed him food that didn't really taste like anything. Mr. Stark's face was calming, and Peter could only think of how gentle and kind the man must be for taking care of a stupid kid like him when he was injured like this.

But what had injured Peter? Surely drowning didn't have this kind of effect on people. He'd understand maybe being a bit achy, but he was pretty sure he had almost died twice in one night. Something had happened, while he was talking to Mr. Stark... But Mr. Stark hadn't been there in person, so how was he with Peter now? Why was he with Peter now?

The more embarrassing moments where when Peter needed help going to the bathroom. He wanted to die every second, but when he tried speaking his tongue felt too heavy and he couldn't form a single syllable. He was sure there were nurses that could be doing this instead. 

Eventually, he could feel himself truly waking up. It took him awhile to really get his eyes open and get moving, but when he sat up and opened his eyes he definitely wasn't met with what he was expecting. Mr. Stark was to his left and holding his hand with a death grip, and the Iron Man suit was at the foot of his bed, arm raised and ready to blast some people standing near the doorway. Mr. Stark was growling, and when Peter looked over at him his eyes were crimson red. 

"Did I miss something?"

Time seemed to freeze with that sentence, as everyone processed that Peter was awake. Mr. Stark's eyes returned to their normal color, and he quickly ordered the suit to go back to a resting position. There was a redhead, Ms. Potts, and another man that Peter couldn't remember if he had met before or not. Mr. Stark's grip on his hand also loosened, but he didn't pull away from Peter. 

"Peter, we need to talk. Pepper, Rhodey, could you give us some space?" Mr. Stark's tone suggested that there wasn't any room for debate, and the two left promptly.

"Mr. Stark, what happened, are-"

"Peter, call me Tony, please," he interrupted, motioned for Peter to not ramble and be quiet with his free hand. 

"Peter..." Tony sighed, "You, or your omega, went through the Rejection process."

"That's not possible, Mr... Um, Tony. I think you're mistaken, because yeah I'm interested in like, one girl right now, but there's no way I'd ever have a chance with her, and I barely know her personally, so it's pretty hard to imagine my omega being that dumb about the situation. Plus, I wasn't even with her when-"

"I'm going to have to cut you off again, champ. I think it's best if I just put everything out on the table right away so there's no confusion and we can just get all the hard emotions over with as quickly as we can." Tony looked guilty as he said this, and the look became increasingly guilty with every word. 

"Peter... I somehow Rejected you when we were talking after your near-drowning. I took you to here, this hospital, but you got really bad and the doctors were pretty sure you were going to die, so I claimed you. I'm responsible for you and I couldn't just let you die, and I understand if there's boundaries you'd like to set in order to keep me as minimally involved in your life as possible now. I know this situation isn't ideal, but you were in so much pain, and-"

"Wait, can I just hear that one more time?" Peter was unsure, not believing if this was some sort of twisted dream and he really hadn't fully woken up yet.

"Peter, we're mates now. And if there are arrangements you'd like to make-"

"Why wouldn't I want my mate in my life? You're supposed to love your mate and take care of them no matter what," Peter couldn't bring himself to meet Tony's eyes as he said this, instead choosing to look at his hands. He was pretty sure that it was Tony that wanted Peter 'minimally involved' in his life, but that was the last thing that he personally wanted. Even if they weren't mated, he really looked up to Tony, and wanted to spend time with him. He wanted to prove to Tony that he could be a valuable asset, an important component in his life. He wasn't just some stupid kid, he had meaning and purpose. He needed reassurance. 

"Peter, you're honestly too innocent for me, dear god." Tony rubbed his temples with one hand, and Peter took silent note that his left hand was still being held in a delicate embrace. It made his insides feel all weird and gushy and warm, but it was a good feeling. 

"What's got you all smiley, anyways? Most people would be freaked out if they woke up after basically dying to find themselves mated to a narcissistic old guy with self-preservation issues." Tony searched Peter's eyes, and Peter could only laugh in response to the lost look on the older man's face.

"Tony, I've looked up to you since I was a little kid. You're super intelligent and save the world for a living, not to mentionkindaattractive..." Peter mumbled, blushing and looking away.

"Oh, Peter..." Tony sighed, "There's a world of chaos and trouble waiting for us the second we walk out of this room. Are you prepared for that?"

"My omega chose you for a reason, Tony. I have to trust my instincts on this. I wouldn't have chosen you if you were a crappy mate. And there might be people that disagree with this relationship, but it's too late for anyone to change anything. But right now, there's something really important I need to tell you. There's these guys-"

"Peter, I've already sent a team to handle it while you were out. You need to focus on your recovery right now, not on being Spider-Man. Plus, we need to discuss things with your aunt, because man is she pissed right now. I'm 80% sure she's waiting outside the door right now ready to come in and castrate me at any second."

"If she tries to hurt you in any way I wouldn't hesitate to protect you."

"That's the thing, kid. You barely know me outside of how the media portrays me. Your aunt is your family, you can't just throw everything away because I happened to bite you while you were passed out. If anything, you should be protecting yourself from me-"

"Tony, you bit me to save my life. Not everyone would be willing to do that. You could've just let the Rejection run its course, but you didn't and that means that you care about me. And so what if Aunt May is upset? She loves me and I know if I show her how much I care about you too she'll change her mind. And if I have to protect your ass to show that I care, then that's what I'll do." Peter had a set look of determination on his face, his mind made up. 

 

 


	6. With Golden Strings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sleeping at Last is amazing and if you've never heard their music I highly suggest checking them out (Some good songs: North, Saturn, Sun)
> 
> Also it's like 1 AM but I don't have to work today so screw sleep  
> Sleep????? I don't know her

-Peter's POV-

Getting released out of the hospital seemed like it would be nice, at first. But when Tony insisted on taking Peter back to Aunt May's apartment in one of his expensive cars and May actually got angry with him and the two started arguing, Peter wished to remain in the care of the medical professionals. May, of course, lost the argument, because A) she was no longer legally Peter's guardian, and B) Peter couldn't help but take Tony's side (despite how much hurt it caused his aunt). 

Peter honestly wasn't sure how things were supposed to work. Traditionally, he would move in with Tony, but did Tony even want him to become his new roommate?

That question was soon answered when they got to the apartment, and there were a bunch of drones in Peter's room packing his stuff away into boxes. Aunt May said nothing at the sight, only pursed her lips and went to the kitchen to make herself a cup of coffee. Peter reluctantly left Tony's side, motioned for him to stay, and Peter followed her. 

"Aunt May-"

"No Peter, nothing you can say will make me feel better about this situation. I just need time and space. I understand what has to happen, and I'm not going to stop it. Your health is on the line, as well as your happiness. Although there are things about all this that displease me, over time I will get used to it. It's not like Mr. Stark is kidnapping you and I'll never see you again. You're still going to check in with me weekly and talk about your life and come visit. It'll be like you going away to college, just a few years earlier than expected. Everything's going to be fine. You must know that I'm not mad at you, because a lot of this is out of your control. I love you. Now come give me a hug."

-Tony's POV- ~insert mystical time skip music~

"And this is your new bedroom," Tony gestured to the room, currently being stocked with Peter's belongings. 

"Won't we be sharing a bed?" Peter turned to him, and did the damn thing with the puppy eyes, and Tony was pretty sure that look was going to get him into a boatload of trouble in the future. 

"Well, uh, yes. But, if you want a space to yourself for when you want to be by yourself, then, well..." Tony copied his previous gesture of the space. Then the kid broke out with that big, happy smile of his again, the one that put that special twinkle in his eyes. Add that look to the list of things Peter did that turned Tony into mush. 

"Sir, Ms. Potts has arrived and has requested to speak to you immediately," Friday's voice broke through the moment. 

"Alright, Peter, feel free to explore, you have unlimited access. If you break anything, just blame it on the robots. I'll be right back." 

Tony was glad the separation anxiety had subsided, because he wasn't sure he could've handled being in such close proximity of another person for such a prolonged time. That would've caused him a whole different type of anxiety. 

When he found Pepper, she was standing with her hands on her hips, and man did she look pissed. He was trying to calculate the outcome of the scenario in his head, and the only conclusion he could reach is that he'd either be losing his junk or his life in the next few minutes. 

"Now, Pepper, I know how bad this looks," he started, not sure how to start this conversation properly. 

"You think? PR is going to have a nightmare on their hands. The media has already caught wind of Tony Stark getting mated to a random 15 year-old omega from Queens. You should see the news. Tons of theories that the kid's a sugar baby out after your fortune, because no one knows he's actually Spider-Man. And his age is not helping you at all, Tony. Reporters have already begun harassing the poor kid's aunt for the scoop. I've sent some security down to help her handle the situation, but you need to hold a press conference. His face is all over the internet, and the more people speculate the messier it's going to get. The reporters will be here in 30 minutes, so take a shower and put on something nice, alright?"

"Jeez, Pepper, good afternoon to you too. You know I don't care about what the media thinks, right? They've always been twisting things this way and that."

"Tony, for the sake of the company, you are going to tell those reporters that that kid almost went through Rejection and that you did what you had to do to save his life. By doing this, you'll also be helping Peter, so I suggest you get your act together."

~more mystical time skip music to cover up my plot holes~

Tony had Peter locked in the lab, having Friday go over a stamina test so that Pepper's press conference would go uninterrupted. She was remaining way too professional about the whole thing, and it made Tony wonder if she was seriously hurt by the fact Tony had just mated someone and was covering it up by doing this. If that was the case, better do everything he could to keep her happy until she exploded at him. 

After tons of cameras flashed in his face and too many people talked at once, and everything settled down, he stood at the podium, thinking about the speech he had rehearsed in his head. He was doing this for Peter, because no way in hell were people going to drag his name through the dirt like that and imply the kid was a gold digger.

"Alright, if anyone tries to interrupt me in any way I might actually break something, k? I'm newly mated and my emotions are extremely unstable, so there's my warning, don't do anything stupid," he started, and Pepper gave a disappointed look, but that was the truth.

"Peter Parker is, was, an intern at Stark Industries. He worked under me specifically, as my protégé, so I know him fairly well. Recently, as in a few days ago, he started going through the Rejection process."

Tony paused at that, as people murmured and wrote things down and more cameras clicked. But staying true to his warning, no one spoke up to ask any questions.

"At the hospital, the doctor speculated that Mr. Park- Peter." Tony couldn't keep up the professional persona, and allowed himself to get a bit emotional.

"The doctor told me that Peter was dying. And I couldn't just sit there and do nothing, because it was me that had unknowingly Rejected him. We were working on a project together and he messed up and I got angry with him, and then all the sudden his life is slipping through my fingertips. So yes, I claimed a 15 year-old. But I couldn't let him die. So say whatever you want about me, but stop calling him a sugar baby or gold digger or whatever. Because Peter is none of those things. He believes in doing the right thing and he cares about people and he's intelligent, he's damn brilliant. So if any of you think it's okay to even taint his name in the slightest, know that you'll have my full wrath showing up at your doorstep. I'm not taking any questions at this time."

Tony stormed out of the room, but when he made eye contact with Pepper she seemed fine. Not upset but not pleased, just in between. And Tony was okay with that, because the thing with the media was no longer his focus. 

When he got to the lab, Peter was sitting upside-down on the ceiling, reading some blueprints. He flipped and landed on the ground when he saw Tony, setting the prints down and walking over to meet him. When he got to Tony he stopped, not hugging him or smiling wide like expected. He instead rocked back and forth on his heels, nervously biting his lip and looking at his feet. 

"What's wrong? Did you break something really expensive?"

"Iwantyoutokissme," Peter mumbled, blood rushing to his cheeks, and he wrapped his arms around himself.

"Slower, Pete, and please look at me when you're talking. You might have super-hearing, but I might be hearing-impaired," Tony joked, ducking his head a bit to try and make eye contact with the teen.

"I've never been kissed by anyone," Peter said more confidentially this time, meeting Tony's eyes this time. Well. That wasn't what he expected after that press conference. 

Peter had no experience with anyone. He was like a fresh blanket of snow on a winter morning, undisturbed and perfect. He was never going to be able to compare Tony to anyone better or worse, and it only made Tony feel like shit. He was going to ruin Peter with all his problems and oh god. What were they going to do when Peter went into heat. Oh god. Tony hadn't even thought that far ahead. That was going to be soon, they had literally just claimed each other. That kind of stuff would trigger Peter's heat, which would trigger Tony's rut, not even suppressants could stop something this strong. 

Tony's thoughts were abruptly interrupted when he felt a pair of lips meet his for a brief millisecond, before Peter pulled away, turning to walk away. Tony grabbed the kid's wrist, and sighed, because man this wasn't going to make him feel any better. 

He pulled Peter closer, into a real embrace, and studied his face. Peter honestly looked a little scared and a little excited, probably waiting for Tony's reaction. But all he could do was pull Peter in for a real kiss. Peter's hand buried itself in Tony's hair, the other resting on his shoulder, and Tony could feel the kid's heart racing from their proximity. After a few seconds, he slowly pulled away, and Peter looked like he had just received the best Christmas present in his life. Tony allowed himself a small smile, before Peter hesitantly leaned in again, trying his best to copy what Tony had done. He was a quick learner, and soon he got more eager, which prompted Tony to pull away quickly.

"Peter, we need to talk."

"I don't want to know right now." Tony could tell how excited Peter was in all aspects, and suspected that his raging teenage hormones couldn't handle so much action happening so quickly at once. 

"Let's sit down." Tony guided them to a work bench, pulling out some stools. "You've had a heat before, right Peter?"

The kid's eyes grew huge, and he looked down before quickly nodding his head. "But I'm on suppressants right now, so you don't have to worry-"

"Peter, didn't they teach you anything in school? You're freshly claimed, which means that suppressants aren't going to work. You're going to have a heat, and soon, and I need to know if you want me to help you or not." 

"Oh, um... I don't know. Can't I just wait until it starts and then give you my answer then?" Peter was closing in on himself, really not wanting to be having this conversation with one of his idols. 

"Peter, I need an answer while you're still fully coherent. I refuse to take advantage of you when you're not 100% there. If you tell me no now and then change your mind during your heat, I won't accept."

"Why can't you just use your alpha voice? Then this would be like, 200% less weird-"

"That's not consent, Peter, that's rape. I want you to trust me, not be afraid of me."

"I do trust you, I've just never done anything like this before and it's scary and what if it hurts. Like obviously I want to spend my heat with my alpha..." Peter curled into himself, and Tony pulled him into a hug. He seriously was going to have to get more used to showing physical affection. Tony's chest also got a little fuzzy when Peter called him his alpha, but he pushed that aside for now. 

"Pete, I would never hurt you. I promise. If it makes you better, we can come up with a safe word. A word that you can use when something makes you uncomfortable and you want to stop. Would that help?" Tony tried to keep his voice as gentle as possible, because he really didn't want to pressure Peter into doing anything he didn't want to do. If he had the choice, he'd just lock himself away until Peter's heat was over, but it was bad for an omega's health to leave them alone during heat when they were already claimed. Of course, he didn't tell Peter any of this. 

"Okay. Then, I want you to spend my next heat with me," Peter decided, sounding sure of himself. Tony pressed a kiss to his forehead, finding comfort in holding the kid close. 

"And for a safe word?"

"Thursday. Is that okay?" 

"Of course, Peter."


	7. Infinity Times Infinity

-Tony's POV-

"Rhodey, before you get mad-" 

"I'm not mad, Tony. I saw the press conference. But seriously, dude, when you said you liked them younger you weren't kidding," Rhodey smiled, always in the mood for teasing his friend. 

"Please, I already think about our age difference way too much, it already stresses me out enough."

"It's not something you can change, so I'd just roll with it if I were you."

The two were lounging on the couch in the central living area, and Tony had his head thrown back. Peter's age had been the concern of his thoughts for the past couple of days now, and two had almost been mated for a week now. Not much had happened between the two, and Tony had come to realize he enjoyed the teen's company. Peter had yet to go back to school, Tony wanted him to rest, so the two had been spending the days working in the shop on various projects. Peter was smart and had incentive, and his thoughts and ideas only helped said projects improve. And when the two weren't talking science, Peter would scale the walls and ceiling quietly, either watching Tony work or reading a book. It was calming instead of overbearing like Tony had expected, it was nice to not just have artificial companions with him.

Both of them had also been sharing a bed without anything too crazy happening, they would start out on their respective sides but throughout the night Peter would just curl up into Tony's side. The first few times Tony had tried to gently push Peter away, but found that the little spider was literally stuck clinging to him. It was nice to have that presence, and Tony had yet to have another nightmare since Peter had moved in. 

But when it came to dreams, two nights ago a certain dream happened to Peter that may as well have been a nightmare for Tony. Nothing really physical had happened between the two, so this event should've been expected. Every day the pair would share a kiss or two, but they were brief and Tony kept telling himself it was because omegas needed lots of affection and not because he was looking forward to them. 

It usually took Tony a longer time to fall asleep than Peter, because the second the kid would hit the pillows he was done for. Tony would spend the time usually wallowing in self-guilt over the same things, and eventually just settle with watching Peter sleep peacefully. Tony had started to fall asleep as well, his eyelids becoming heavy as sleep overcame him. Shortly after, he was woken up by the noise of Peter whimpering, his instincts telling him the kid was in danger. His eyes snapped open and he was ready to fight, when he took in the sight before him. 

Peter was gripping Tony's upper arms, face slack as he rutted against Tony's leg. The kid was shaking and sweating, and the thought passed through Tony's mind that maybe his heat had started. But Peter's eyes never opened, not even when he was gasping out Tony's name and calling him alpha. 

The entire time, Tony was as still as a rod. He knew his own body was reacting from the stimulation, but he did absolutely nothing about it. He kept telling himself that Peter was just doing normal teenager things, and he also realized with this thought that this probably wouldn't be the first time something like this happened. But he didn't dare attempt to wake Peter up, he just let the dream run its course. When he was sure it was over, he climbed out of bed quietly and cleaned Peter up himself, so the next morning he could avoid any awkward conversation. He then locked himself in the bathroom and took the world's coldest shower, because he was not going to think about the images that had been running through Peter's head. 

He ended up drinking a little too much and passing out on the couch, which led to Peter finding him in the morning and being way too nice to overly hungover Tony. The kid even made him breakfast, and it made Tony feel like shit that his mate, who was much younger than him, have to be the one to pick up his mess. But Peter was as chatty and cheerful as usual, seemingly unaffected by it all. The universe kept moving as usual, everything falling into the new routine. 

Tony was glad that Rhodey didn't explode at him with anger, that his friend understood that Tony couldn't have just let Peter die. He also figured that Peter was rubbing off on Rhodey, because he would bring Peter candy and legos when he came by. 

"Where is the kid, anyways?" Rhodey asked, and Tony asked Friday to do a scan. 

_"Mr. Parker is not on the premises, sir. He left over two hours ago."_

"Pull up Peter Parker vitals," he commanded, shooting up from his spot on the couch.

_"Elevated heart rate, multiple contusions detected."_

Rhodey had put some space between Tony and himself, smelling and seeing how angry Tony was getting. He excused himself, yelling at Tony to go easy on the kid. He got a growl in response, and was glad he was avoiding a domestic argument in the making. 

"Activate baby monitor protocol. Pull up the recent news."

Tony was met with a dizzying screen of Spider-Man's current vision, swinging from building to building. He seemed fine, no was was in-pursuit, and it looked like he was heading back to the Avengers base. Some news headlines showed that Spider-Man had foiled some robberies today. 

The second he was alerted to Peter's arrival, he was calmer than before, reminding himself that he couldn't stop Peter from doing what he wanted to do. Peter would go stir-crazy if he was confined to the space, and would only get angry if Tony had tried to stop him. The last time he had tried to tell Peter he didn't want him to take on bigger criminals, he had been the one that injured Peter. This was just a few robberies, nothing big. Right now, his priority was making sure Peter was okay. 

He found him in Peter's room, mask off and in the process of removing the rest of the suit. He could see some of the bruises littering Peter's skin from the doorway, but they looked like they were already healing and would be gone in a matter of hours. When Peter took note of Tony's presence he turned to face him, but Tony was already storming towards him, engulfing him in a hug. 

"Next time you have to tell me before you go patrolling. You almost gave me a heart attack."

"I didn't want to bother you when you were hanging out with Rhodey. And I'm fine, Tony, I promise."

They stood like that for awhile, holding each other, with Tony's nose buried in Peter's scent gland. Something was different about Peter's smell, maybe it was all the sweat and grime from going out. But when he kissed Peter (for reassurance purposes only), the smell became stronger, more potent. It filled the room, along with the noise of Peter whining. Tony pulled back and held the kid away at arm's length, only to be met with shining gold irises. 

 _"Alpha, please,"_ he whined, and Tony's stomach dropped. Peter's heat had just started. 


	8. Hjartað Hamast [Heat]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't like when works get too long so I'm probably going to turn this into a series. Also s/o to my friend the fridge for always being there for me. 
> 
> Also, like, smut warning. Don't like, don't read.

-Tony's POV-

Helping Peter carefully get out of his suit, Tony picked the kid up and gently set him on the bed. Peter's body temperature was quickly getting hotter and hotter, and the noises of desperation he was making was not helping. Even though he could feel his rut starting, Tony had enough experience to control himself. When he left the room to get contraceptives, Peter was outright screaming, but he had to play it safe. When he promptly returned, Peter was sobbing, looking absolutely wrecked. 

"Alpha, Tony, please, it hurts," he whined, reaching out for the older man. As he removed his clothes, he was glad he had gotten Peter's consent beforehand. He got onto the bed, positioning himself above the kid, before leaning down and pressing a kiss to Peter's lips. He was more than receptive, arching his back to create friction between the two. Within a minute, Peter was coming everywhere. Collapsing onto the bed, Peter remained hard, grabbing Tony's hands and whining, still needing more. 

Shushing the boy, Tony reached down, feeling all the slick that Peter was producing. He inserted one finger into Peter's hole, slowly, and Peter's hands jumped to Tony's shoulders, nails digging in. He was unbelievably tight, and it took awhile to work the flesh before he was even ready for a second finger. 

"Alpha, I'm ready, please," Peter whined, body pushing back on Tony's hand. He became persistent, trying to reach down and control the situation himself, and Tony downright slammed Peter's arm to his chest.

"You're ready when I say you're ready," he growled, and Peter's eyes rolled into the back of his head at that. Tony knew his alpha was in control of his body, but he was present enough to enjoy Peter's eager moans that followed even the slightest of movements. At four fingers, with Peter rocking back sloppily, Tony felt that was at much as he could prepare him. He got the condom on and lined up with Peter, slowly pushing in and watching his face for reactions. 

He was not disappointed in the slightest with what he received, Peter's mouth forming a perfect 'O' at the sensation. Once fully seated, Tony could barely contain himself, but he stayed still, enjoying watching the omega writhe. 

"Please, _move,_ I need-" Peter gasped, trying to create movement to relieve him, but Tony gripped him by the hips to hold him still.

"Tell me, baby, tell me what you need," he whispered, pressing kisses to Peter's neck, letting his beard scratch against the omega's sensitive scent gland. 

"Y-your knot, please, _alpha._ " Peter looks beautiful like this, his gold eyes bright in the dark afternoon lighting of the room, natural light peeking in from the window. Tears streak his cheeks, eyes pouring with fresh ones, the look of desperation and need on his face so evidently clear. 

"Anything for you, my omega," he response, before pulling out almost entirely and slamming back in. The effects of his rut hit him like a truck, and he needs to claim, needs to exclaim to the world that Peter Parker is his and no one else's. The feeling of Peter's walls surrounding his cock make him delirious, it's so tight and so good and there's no better feeling in the world. He sets a quick pace, maintaining a strong rhythm as he wrecks the younger boy, establishing who Peter belongs to. Peter keeps moaning loudly in response to the stimulation, getting louder as Tony finds his prostate and aims for it specifically with each thrust. 

When his knot finally snaps into place after building up, Tony continues to rock a bit in order to slow down. Peter's mouth is still hanging open, still frozen in a moan of pleasure. His eyelids are half-closed, but his eyes watch Tony. Tony watches Peter's irises slip from gold back to brown, and he knows his boy is back with him again. He feels his own alpha back down, going back to the resting place deep in his mind. 

"How was that? Are you hurt?" Tony asks, trying to pull back as far as he can as to examine the boy for injuries. There are some faint bruises on Peter's hips that look like they came from Tony's hands, but they're healing quickly. The kid doesn't response, just stares at Tony with a euphoric expression. 

"Friday, give me a scan on Peter," he demands, too impatient to wait for answers. 

_"He's fine, sir. Heart rate slightly elevated but slowing down."_

Peter weakly reached an arm out, hooking his hand onto the back of Tony's neck and pulling him down. 

"'M tired," he mumbles, wrapping Tony close before quickly falling asleep. Tony flips them so Peter's on top on him instead of under him, afraid to crush the kid with his weight (even though he knows that's impossible), falling asleep as well. He knows this rest is only temporary, that was only the first wave, but it'll all be over soon. 

-Peter's POV-

Sex with Tony Stark was nothing like how the media said it was like, it was a thousand times better. If Peter died right now, he'd be completely fine with that. When he woke up again, unsure of how much time had passed, Tony's knot had gone down and slipped out of him, but the man himself was holding Peter close to his chest in his sleep. 

Before all this had happened, Peter had to admit he really admired Mr. Stark. It was strange to call him by his first name, because Peter never thought they'd be close on this kind of level. Happy had always acted as an intermediary between the two, and even then that relationship was pretty one-sided. Peter wanted to prove himself, he was smart enough to keep up with Mr. Stark's brain and strong enough to keep up with Iron Man in battle. Plus, he didn't even need to rely on technology for his abilities. 

It had made him really happy, when he had gotten back from patrolling that Tony hadn't told him he couldn't be Spider-Man anymore. He expected an angry and overprotective alpha, which is why he had snuck out in the first place. Instead he got a worried and scared alpha, which actually made him feel a little guilty. He didn't really have time to feel that way though, because his heat came on so quickly, and it came over him like a tidal wave when Tony pulled him close and kissed him. Kissing Tony every day was probably the highlight of his life. 

After being claimed, Peter's heightened senses became attuned to Tony's presence. He could hear his breathing and heartbeat from practically anywhere in the building, and he was fairly sure the walls were reinforced to soundproof them. He didn't really care about the science behind that, because anytime Tony would start walking in Peter's direction the only thing he could focus on was his own racing heart. He wasn't sure if he would ever not get excited in Tony's presence, and he also wasn't sure if that embarrassed him or not. 

But when in heat, everything was so overwhelming. He actually hadn't had a heat since he had gained his powers, due to his suppressants. He couldn't risk going out as Spider-Man and having his omega get him into trouble. 

It was almost too much. The sound was turned up to 11 on the amp, and every single movement felt like his flesh was burning. It hurt his brain, he squinted his eyes because the light seared them. But when Tony touched him, everything was dialed down, and the focus wasn't on the pain. His senses became numb and tingly, and Peter hadn't ever felt this kind of relief before. And when Tony started to move, Peter was on Cloud 9, he couldn't get enough of that feeling. It was all over too soon, too quickly, but the burning didn't come back, so that was good. Peter knew that Tony was talking, trying to say something, but it was all so much and his brain was too tired to process anything. 

He curled back into Tony, falling back asleep. Cuddling with Tony was up there on Peter's list of the Best Things Ever in this Universe, right next to kissing Tony. 

Peter wondered if it was too soon to tell Tony he loves him. 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't written smut in literally two years. Throwback to Wattpad lol, oh the cringe. 
> 
> Whenever I edit these chapters I feel like I take out 100 swear words. I blame my upbringing.


	9. Reality

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sadly there will be not be many updates over the weekend because my boss has me working a ton due to the fact that literally everyone will be at the state swim meet and it will be the most understaffed weekend of the summer at the beaches. I'll try to squeeze in some writing when I can, but it depends on how productive I'm feeling after yelling at people for several consecutive hours.

-Tony's POV-

Peter's heat lasted three days, and in between each wave Tony made sure to feed the kid foods high in protein and make him drink tons of water. He may as well have blocked Pepper's phone number with all the times she called, and then it was Rhodey calling, and finally Tony told Friday to just leave him alone and stop notifying him altogether. 

He had ordered this, however, when he was locked together with Peter, and he was particularly tired. Because of this, it wasn't one of his most well thought out ideas, because on the third day of Peter's heat, both Rhodey and Pepper had come storming through the Avengers facility. Friday hadn't notified him, because Tony had straight out told the AI to can it. 

Thankfully, he was in the kitchen, and not in any sort of compromising position. In fact, he was making himself a sandwich, because Peter no longer smelled like heat and it was okay to just let the kid sleep without him waking up alone and freaking out. He had some music playing too, so there was no way he could've heard their footsteps. At least he had been wearing a pair of gym shorts. 

"Oh my god, Tony, what the hell happened to your back?" Pepper exclaimed, and Tony quickly spun around, sandwich in hand. 

"Is there a spider on me?" he asked, taking a bite of the BLT. 

"No, turn around again. Is this why you haven't been answering anyone's calls? Is this from a fight?" Pepper actually seemed concerned, and Tony wondered if he should have told people what was happening. No, that would've been extremely awkward and Peter would've just been screaming too much for an actual phone call. Maybe a text, or a quick email. 

"Friday, you should probably start notifying me again of calls and such. Do a scan too, what's wrong with my back?" 

_"Mr. Parker seems to have done considerable damage, sir. I suggest-"_

"Yeah, shut up. Rhodey, stop that." Tony realized what was happening, and tried to move away from Pepper so she'd stop looking at his damn back. Rhodey had been silent this whole time, but now he had started cracking up.

"Peter did this to you? What the- Are you serious? You've been too busy having sex the past few days to even just send a text to update everyone, who's been worried sick about you?"

"I'm not the only person in this facility. There's tons of people that you could've had stop in," Tony waved his hand nonchalantly, taking another bite of his sandwich. 

"We did. They couldn't find you," Rhodey said, in between laughs. 

"Hey guys," Peter waved, walking over to Tony and stealing the sandwich from his hands. Tony made a face of silent protest, but the kid gave him the puppy eyes and he was done for. That, and the boy was also shirtless and wearing a pair of Tony's sweatpants. Jesus.

"You two need a shower. Maybe two," Pepper commented, "Wait. Peter, did you just have your-?" 

"My heat? Y-yeah," Peter answered, not meeting her eyes as he finished the sandwich. What a little thief. 

"Friday, order a pregnancy test," she commanded, and Peter choked a bit. 

"Pepper, that's not necessary, we used-" Tony tried to reason, but she cut him off.

"I don't care. I don't trust you around young omegas," she responded, and Rhodey burst out laughing again. Poor Peter's face was bright red, but his hand had moved subconsciously to his stomach. When he realized he was doing it, he quickly stopped, but Tony was pretty sure everyone in the room had silently noticed.

-Peter's POV-

"How long do I have to wait?" he asked again, seated at a stool in the kitchen. James, Pepper, Tony, and now Happy were standing around him. He had peed on not one, but two stupid sticks, and now they were all staring at him while they waited for the results. It was extremely weird, and Tony just looked bored. He wanted to just curl up with his alpha and watch television, but since everyone else had gotten here Tony had been avoiding close proximity. He had also put on a shirt, much to Peter's disappointment, and brought Peter one as well (which he only put on because it was Tony's and smelled really nice). 

"When the timer goes off, Peter," Pepper responded. He honestly didn't like her, she was always stern and upset around Peter. Maybe she was jealous. Peter's inner omega took pride in the thought that she could possibly be jealous at the fact he was mated to Tony. 

When the timer finally went off, Peter turned to grab the pee sticks, but Pepper beat him to it. 

"Are you gonna make me piss on those every time I have sex?" he asked, and Tony started to laugh, and then cover it up with coughs when Pepper glared at him. 

She never responded to his question, only handed him the tests and went, "Both are negative."

"I could've told you that," Tony replied. 

"Alright, Peter, shower and get ready for school," was her response.

"What?" Tony and him went at the same time. 

"You haven't been to school in practically two weeks. It's not good for your grades."

"No offense, Ms. Potts, but all the curriculum they've been teaching I taught myself in middle school."

"You're going to school, no but's. It's good for you to socialize with people your own age." And ouch. That was a stab to the gut. But she wasn't going to move on the subject, and Peter supposed that he had been taking up a lot of Tony's time lately. He also had been avoiding Peter's side since other _adults_ had arrived, so maybe he wanted Peter gone too. 

He quickly took a shower, brushed his teeth, and put on a clean pair of boxers. He put his own pair of jeans on too, but went and put on the shirt Tony had given him. It was a clean shirt, but still smelled like his alpha. 

Peter found his backpack in his room, and grabbed the phone Tony had given him, making sure it had enough battery to last the day. When he reentered the kitchen, no one had really moved from their original positions, but it looked like some sort of argument had been going on from all the tension in the air. 

"Happy's going to be driving you to school, Peter. You've already missed first hour, but you should be able to make it in time for most of the day," Pepper smiled at him, but it all seemed too fake. Before being placed in kid prison for the day, he ran up and hugged Tony tightly, burying his nose in his scent gland. He thought about saying _I love you,_ but decided against it because there was an audience. Tony rubbed a hand through Peter's wet, messy hair, smiling lightly and pressing a kiss to his forehead. 

As Peter got into the car with Happy, he got a weird feeling in his stomach. He didn't really feel comfortable being away from Tony for so long, but he knew eventually he was going to have to get used to it. What if Tony had another big business trip and he couldn't bring Peter with him? The thought filled him with dread, but it was a possibility.

Walking back through the halls of his school, he could feel everyone's eyes on him. With his elevated hearing, he knew they were talking about him. Many whispered that they hadn't even known he was an omega, others about how they couldn't believe that the Stark internship was a real thing that Peter hadn't just been making up. 

The last thing he needed was Flash slamming him into a locker. 

"God, Peter, you smell like old man," he taunted, and Peter grit his teeth, resisting from snapping the bully in two. It wasn't a bright idea for him to start out with an insult to Tony. Peter used his strength to push the other teen off of him, and moved to keep going on his way. Flash was only taken aback for a second before he resumed his activities. 

"You know he only mated you so the media wouldn't make him look bad, right? How bad would it have been if he had just let a useless, pathetic omega die from Rejection? Or maybe you faked it, it'd make total sense if you were a gold digger."

"Flash, _shut up_." Peter stopped in his tracks, facing him and looking him straight in the eye. But before a fight could break out, a faculty member came and grabbed Flash by the arm, and started to lecture him on how it was against school policy to harass other students. The teacher told Peter to go to class, and drug Flash away. That had never happened before ever in Peter's time at school, and he wondered what had changed.

 _You're mated, now._ He thought to himself. If a mated omega gets threatened by an alpha, a full out brawl could happen. If Tony had been there in that moment, he might've ripped Flash's throat out. Who knows? That might now have even been the worst thing he could do. 

When he got to class, thankfully it was still passing hour, but those who were already seated watched him intently. The teacher gestured for Peter to come talk to him, and told him that he didn't need to worry about making up any of his missing assignments. It wasn't what he was expecting, but it was a relief. 

And when he sat in his seat, Ned was all over him. Shit, how did he forget to update Ned on everything that had happened? He probably had had to rely on watching the news or something. 

"Peter, where the heck have you been? I've been worried sick about you!" Ned exclaimed, looking Peter over for serious external injuries.

"Ned, keep your voice down. I'm fine," Peter replied, and couldn't help that his voice was a bit snappy. He had been having a very rough morning that was totally uncalled for. If only Pepper Potts hadn't showed up. Peter wondered what she was doing now. Was she still with Tony? The thought made him angry, even if they were business partners she had no right to just barge in and kick Peter out of his own home for the day. 

"Are you sure you're okay? Your eyes are turning a bit yellow," Ned whispered, pointing at his own eyes. 

"I'm fine," he growled, storming out of the classroom entirely. He wasn't having this. He felt angry, angrier than he had ever been ever, and he just had to do something drastic. It was out of character for him, but his omega was telling him it was the right thing to do as Peter stormed out of the school despite a few faculty trying to stop him. Ned also ended up following him, but Peter was just fine with that. He was going to need his friend's help anyways.

~

"Peter, are you sure this is a good idea?" Ned asked nervously, helping remove the tracker from the Spider-Man suit. 

"Track the fucking lamp, Ned."

"Only because you're really scary like this and I don't want you to tie me up in some sort of giant spiderweb. Hey, what's the baby monitor protocol?"

"Are you serious? Disable it," Peter kept growling, he couldn't help himself. His sane mind was in another place right now. And because Ned was the good friend that he was, he listened to Peter despite thinking it wasn't the greatest idea. And when Ned was done, Peter didn't even say thank you as he climbed out the window and went looking for a fight. 

-Tony's POV-

"Pepper, one second, Peter's school is calling me," Tony held up a finger, and Pepper pursed her lips. 

"Hello, Tony Stark speaking," he answered.

The receptionist on the other line spoke timidly, fear evident in her voice as she said, "Sir, this isn't going to make you very happy, but Mr. Parker has stormed out of the building. We tried to stop him, and his friend Ned Leeds went after him, but both have failed to return to the building. Would you like me to call the police, or?"

"Don't call the cops, I'll handle this," he responded calmly, and hung up. Pepper raised an eyebrow, silently asking what was going on. 

"Friday, where's Peter right now?"

_"The tracker placed on his suit says that he's at his Aunt May's apartment."_

"Cool. Call Aunt May."

 "Why isn't Peter at school?" Pepper asked, but Tony just shook his head while the phone rang.

"Mr. Stark, it's so nice to hear from you. How are you?" she asked, actually sounding genuine with her happiness.

"Is Peter with you right now?"

"No, I'm at work right now. Why, is he not with you?" May quickly became concerned. 

"He's supposed to be at school, but it looks like he's playing hooky. Don't worry, I have a tracker that reads his location so I'll just go get him and make sure he's okay. Have a nice day." May tried to say something else, but Tony hung up, already summoning a suit.

"Tony, let's just take a car. He's probably fine and just overwhelmed," Pepper tried to reason.

"Driving takes time. If he's overwhelmed, there's even better reason why I should take the suit."

"Fine. But if he's at that apartment then have Happy bring a car so you're not flying around with him. The press will have a hay day about the boy's safety."

"Fine. See ya."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hit me up on tumblr @xythri  
> We can talk about movies or you can ask for pointers on your own writing or you can gossip with me about your sister's ex-boyfriend's cousin's pet tortoise named Voldetort. 
> 
> Also thanks for the comments guys, they're all really sweet


	10. Save Myself

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing this during my hour-long lunch break before I have to return to work (we do circuit training in the morning then lifeguard in the afternoon) but it's rainy and I hope it storms so I can go home early and write more
> 
> In other words, this will be a fairly short chapter

-Peter's POV-

It wasn't that hard to find a fight in New York. In a deep, dark alley, there was some obvious gang activity going on, and in Peter's very right mind he decided that would be the perfect place to start. That was, until his omega panicked and went to Peter for ideas when all twenty of the burly men pulled their guns on him. Without his omega at the wheel, he had no idea how he had gotten in this scenario. He raised his hands, as if to surrender, and then started shooting webs. They started shooting, and Peter felt the adrenaline begin to rush through his veins. Finally, when most of them were disabled and the rest had fled, Peter thought he was fine.

But then Karen's voice spoke in his ear.

_"Peter, it appears you're losing a lot of blood from your center mass very quickly, would you like me to call Mr. Stark?"_

"Wait, what?" he asked, looking down at his bright red suit to see a darker red soaking the fabric. He had felt a sharp stab during the fight, but he hadn't felt himself _get shot_. 

"Don't call Tony," he panicked. Tony would have a heart attack. Peter could fix this himself, he didn't need to worry anyone. He scaled the building and threw himself onto the roof where he removed the top of his suit, observing the damage. There was only one bullet hole, and he didn't think it had gone all the way through him. That meant he had to lie on his back. Apply pressure to the wound. He has to apply pressure. Using some webbing as a makeshift bandage, he pressed down on his abdomen. This would stop bleeding and then he could go back to the Avengers facility and everything would be fine. He tried to focus his senses on other things other than the pain once the adrenaline started to wear off and it really started to hurt, but it was hard.

Eventually, Peter found himself listened to the events happening around a certain intersection, when it became too much. Too many loud noises, too much was happening and everything was hyper-focused and everything was so loud and even if Peter covered his ears with his hands it was too much and then he couldn't breathe and everything was so bright and he squeezed his eyes but couldn't see and then he was hyperventilating and begging Karen to call Tony because it was so much and he just wanted his alpha to make everything better.

"Peter, Peter, where are you? Are you alright?"

"T-Tony, h-help m-me," he whimpered, curling into himself. The wound hadn't stopped bleeding, but how could Peter focus on that when people were screaming and tires were screeching and the sun was trying to burn his corneas.

"Pete, sweetheart, where are you?"

"I-I don't-t," Peter wheezed, "h-help-p."

"Alright, breathe," Tony sounded panicky. That meant he couldn't help Peter, he was going to die alone on this dirty rooftop.

Peter tried opening his eyes, peeking through his fingers, and he realized that his vision was fuzzy and dark along the edges. This had happened to him enough to know he really was dying, he actually needed real help. How did he keep doing this to himself? But then Tony started a breathing exercise with him, counting how long he should inhale and exhale, and eventually the panic attack began to subside. His senses were still on overload, but he kept breathing calmly like Tony was telling him to and it was going to be fine. 

"K-Karen, send my location to Tony," he gasped, trying to put pressure on the gunshot wound again. He became woozy, and sloppily lifted the mask halfway to vomit. Tony kept reassuring him that he was coming, that he was only a few minutes away. His alpha was going to save him, and then he'd be safe. 

"Is Peter alright?" he heard Pepper ask in the background, and he felt anger bubble up again. _Her._  He growled, fingers digging into the gaping wound, the pain grounding him. 

"Tell Pepper to fuck off."

"Whoa, Pete, you alright?" 

"I've been shot and I'm bleeding everywhere, you tell me," he snapped at his mate over the comm, before cutting the connection entirely. He hauled himself to his feet, stumbled a bit, and then started to move. He was not going to be brought back only for Pepper to tell Tony what to do and force Peter to do the same. Tony kept trying to call him back, but Peter blocked each call. He got to the roof of a nearby building, squeezing himself between two crates to hide himself. He'd save himself. 


	11. Goodnight Neverland

-Tony's POV-

"I've been shot and I'm bleeding everywhere, you tell me." Peter's tone was bitter, and Tony wondered how much pain he was in. 

"How did you get shot? What happened?" He was feeling nauseous, he had let this happen. He shouldn't have made Peter go to school today, otherwise this wouldn't have happened. He didn't get a response, and realized the connection had been lost. He kept calling and calling Peter to restore it, but it wasn't going through.

"Did Peter just tell me to fuck off?" Pepper asked, outraged.

"It's not always about you," Tony growled, speeding to the location he had been sent. He landed on a rooftop of an apartment complex in a bad neighborhood, heart racing and face paling at the sight of blood. There was a pool of it, and then smears of it, making it look like either someone had dragged Peter away or Peter had gotten up himself and limped off somewhere. Knowing the latter was highly unlikely, Tony started to panic a bit. His omega, his Peter, was god knows where. Was if he had been abducted and someone was torturing him? What if he was never going to see Peter alive ever again?

He took off the face plate of the suit, yelling Peter's name. He flew up again, scanning the streets to see if he could find anything, when he noticed streaks of blood on other rooftops. Following the trail, Tony stopped only three buildings over. Following the blood, he found Peter unconscious, body wedged between two crates. He picked him up and flew as fast as he could possibly go back to the Avengers facility, rushing to the medical wing. 

Once Peter was in the hands of capable doctors, Tony collapsed. Still locked in the suit, he was alerted that he was having a severe anxiety attack. He couldn't will himself to calm down like he had with Peter, so he let himself deprive his body of oxygen, until Rhodey was suddenly there yelling at him to get it together for Peter. 

Peter was only in surgery for a little while to remove the bullet, and then the doctor ordered he have a transfusion. Once Tony had pulled himself together, he had stayed holding the omega's hand through the entire thing. He couldn't stop crying, because he had just gotten Peter and he couldn't lose him. He needed the kid in his life, no matter how much guilt it might cause him. 

During recovery, Peter woke up screaming, and Tony was there right away to calm him down. He had been moved upstairs to his shared bedroom with Tony, so he would be more comfortable. He had already healed within the day, but they decided to let the boy sleep the rest off. Once Peter registered that it was just him and Tony, he started sobbing, blabbing incoherently. 

Tony just held him close to his chest and ran his fingers through his hair, shushing him and telling him it was going to be alright, that he was just glad Peter was safe now.

"Alpha?" he whimpered, pressing his nose into the crook of Tony's neck.

"Yes, baby?" he said in a soft voice, handling his Peter like a porcelain doll. 

"Can you sing to me?"

"Oh, Pete, I'm not that great of a singer-"

"Please?" Peter looked directly into Tony's eyes, giving him the puppy dog eyes on top of him shedding silent tears. 

_"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy, when skys are gray. You'll never know dear, how much I love you, please don't take my sunshine away."_

"I love you," Peter whispered, before the sounds of soft snoring filled the room. Tony adjusted them into a more comfortable laying down position, with Peter sprawled out across him. Tony's chest blossomed with emotion, and he could feel himself crying again. What had he done to deserve Peter?

"Knock, knock," Pepper announced herself quietly, poking her head through the door frame. 

"I really don't think you should be here. He might get really upset if he wakes up."

"Tony, he's fully healed already, there's no excuse for him to get moody at me."

"He obviously doesn't like you. Now could you leave, so he could sleep? Or I'll get moody with you."

"Fine, I'll leave. But there's no reason for him to not like me when all I've done so far is look out for him."

Pepper looked displeased and closed the door a little too loudly, causing Peter to temporarily stir in his sleep before settling down again. While he was already rolling around, Tony shifted him so they were both laying on their sides, Tony spooning the slightly smaller of the two. 

He couldn't believe that Peter had been the one to say I love you first. Tony had plans brewing in his head. Maybe he would buy him a building. No, Peter wasn't that big on flashy things. What wasn't flashy but also extravagant that Peter would love? Weren't those two words synonyms? This was going to be harder than Tony thought it would be. 


	12. Ten Thousand Hours

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I went and saw Homecoming for a second time and it was just so good. There are not words to describe how much I love Tom Holland as Spider-Man.
> 
> Also, the leaked teaser for Infinity War stresses me out. Marvel should just go ahead and release an HD version at this point.

-third person omniscient-

"Peter, wake up." Tony shook the boy gently, with the teen grumbling and shoving Tony away from him as he bundled further into the sheets. Within seconds of doing this Peter's eyes shot wide open and he sat up quickly, rambling and apologizing about sleeping in and losing time or something along those lines. Tony was going to need a lot more coffee before he could understand the speed-talking. 

Because it didn't sound like Peter was going to stop anytime soon, Tony pressed his lips to his, deepening the kiss when Peter responded enthusiastically. 

"What time is it?" Peter asked when they finally broke apart.

"It's around 8 in the morning, but we have plans today so it's time for you to shower and get dressed."

"Plans?" the teen was still unsure as Tony left the room, but concurred anyways. 

Wearing jeans and a graphic t-shirt, hair still wet and messy from the shower, Peter found Tony seated in the kitchen. Presented before him was fruit and pancakes, and Peter devoured a couple stacks before trying to probe Tony's brain for more details. 

"It's a surprise," Tony responded as he drank his orange juice. 

"I don't like surprises."

"Well, what if I like surprising you?"

"Then I suppose I'll have to tolerate. Can I at least have a clue?" Peter whipped out the puppy eyes, and Tony had to use all his willpower to stay strong. 

"We're going on a field-trip and that's all you get to know for now. Speaking of which, I think Happy is ready with the car."

"This isn't some trap to dump me at school again for the day, is it?" the boy became skeptical, feeling uneasy. His thoughts were swimming in dread, realizing spending the day with Tony could be too good to be true. 

"After what happened? You're getting home-schooled. Unless you'd rather continue to be enrolled at that school, or if you want to change to a different school. It's your education so, it's your choice."

"Won't Pepper get angry if I'm here all the time distracting you from your work?" Peter crossed his arms tightly over his chest, leaning back in his chair. He knew his tone was sharp, but he didn't let it affect him too much when Tony flinched at his words.

"Pepper doesn't get a say in where you spend your time. And my work is to salvage whatever's left of the Avengers and focus on legally trying to keep the world a safe place. Besides, I spend most of my days in my lab tinkering than doing actual work. You don't distract me, you're smart enough that we can even work together. Don't worry about what Pepper thinks."

"Why shouldn't I worry about what Pepper thinks?" Peter stood up, absolutely fuming, and Tony knew that he was going to know what triggered Peter's recent behavior. 

"She storms in here out of nowhere, demanding I take a pregnancy test when I already know for a fact I'm not pregnant. And so what if I was? That's none of her damn business! My sex life shouldn't concern her! I barely know her! Then she kicks me out and sends me to school when I'm not ready for that, and everyone there is gossiping about me and treating me like some worthless omega, because why should I even be treated like a person when I'm mated to Tony fucking Stark! And, of course, my feelings on the matter don't matter to her because I'm just some unstable teenager that doesn't know anything! I'm supposed to be your equal, Tony, not some push-over! She may be an alpha, but she's not my alpha so I shouldn't have to listen to her bullshit! I don't care if you two used to date or if she still might have feelings for you, because you're mine now and I'm not going to stand for her bossing me around!"

Peter's voice had continued to elevate consistently during his rant, and when he was finished he was breathing heavily, and he looked almost shocked that he had just done what he did. 

"Peter, I'm sorry. I'll listen to what you have to say from now on when others are around, just please don't ever scare me like that again. I just got you and I can't lose you," Tony admitted, shoulders slumping in defeat. Tears pooled in the boy's eyes and his lower lip trembled before he flung himself at Tony, wrapping his limbs around the man as the waterworks openly flowed. He rubbed circles into the teen's back until he calmed down a bit more, pecking him on the lips as he pulled Peter off his lap and into a standing hug. 

"You feeling good enough to go on our date?" Tony broke the silence once Peter's sniffles turned back into regular breathing.

"You're going to take me on a date?" Peter's eyes lit up, a smile breaking across his lips. 

"Cat's out of the bag," he mumbled against the boy's hair, still holding his lithe body close. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realize this chapter is extremely short but work has been hectic and I feel bad for not posting in such a long time


	13. I Can't Help Falling in Love with You

-third person omniscient-

"Tony, this is amazing." Peter's eyes were bigger than the moon as he glanced around the Italian restaurant, a live orchestra playing quietly in the distance. "But don't you think I'm a bit under-dressed for this occasion?" he added, gesturing to his shirt and jeans.

"I'd like to see them try and kick us out of here for that, honestly," Tony laughed, taking a sip of champagne. He had offered for Peter to try some, but one sip and he decided he didn't like the taste.  _That was not like tasting the stars or whatever,_ he thought to himself. He opted instead for just plain water, but they had to be all fancy and put lemon slices in it. He went with it, because rich people eat weird stuff and he already felt a little out of place with his wardrobe. 

The second the two of them had stepped foot in the place, it had grown very silent, and the wait staff even took a second to recover and revert back to professionalism. Tony's arm around Peter's waist had slightly tightened, the protectiveness radiating off of him in waves. Peter only blushed in response and buried his face into the shoulder of the genius/billionaire/ ~~playboy~~ /philanthropist that was drawing all the attention towards them. 

Even sat at the table, people would sneak glances at the pair, and Tony was certain that quite a few pictures had been taken of them. He refused to let any anger bubble up inside him, because today was about Peter and no one else. Besides, who cares if a photo of their date leaked all over the news? Tony was simply treating his omega to a well deserved date and nothing was wrong with that. If anything, people should be taking notes on what a quality relationship looked like. 

The two ate in silence, Peter eating spaghetti with meatballs because it was one of the few things on the menu that he could pronounce, and Tony getting a fettuccine dish. It wasn't an awkward silence but a pleased one, Tony enjoying watching Peter's eyes dart around the grand room in awe. He probably had a stupid, stereotypical gushy expression, but he couldn't contain how happy Peter made him. Breaking the silence, he cleared his throat to get Peter's attention back on him.

"Peter, I love you, and I just want you to know that no matter what I will always want to spend the rest of my life with you."

The teen's expression was the cutest thing Anthony Edward Stark had ever seen in his life, and he rarely called things cute. Except for Peter, he gave everything remotely cute on this planet a race for their money. His cheeks reddened and his smile broke into the world's biggest grin, but he bit his lower lip in a weak attempt to hide it. He looked at the alpha with pure admiration in his eyes, and this was a moment that Tony never wanted to forget. He would never forgive himself if he forgot this moment. 

"I love you too," he replied, cheeks still red and eyes still shining. 

The rest of the meal went by flawlessly, with Tony talking about updates on Stark Industries, and Peter constructively commenting on certain projects and things that should be considered or modified. Next to his looks, Tony was also highly attracted to Peter's brain, wanting to kiss him stupid. 

However, when leaving the premises, he was not pleased with the level of photographers and other media present.

"Mr. Stark, do you have time for a comment?"

"Mr. Stark, look over here! Your omega too!"

"Mr. Stark, are you planning on having kids now that you're mated?"

All the questions and comments overlapped each other as they flew at him simultaneously, and Peter pressed himself as much as he could into Tony's side, ducking his head as means to shield his face. The kid didn't like publicity and was likely thinking about the events that happened at his high school, and Tony tried his best to maneuver them to the car waiting for them. Sadly, no one was parting ways for them anytime soon.

He raised a hand, signaling for them all to be quiet. Peter looked at him questionably, expression otherwise neutral as he waited for his alpha to handle the situation.

"Peter and I would like to be able to leave, first off, please make way before someone gets hurt. If anyone ever chases him in public or so much as looks at him in the wrong way they'll lose their job and their reputation. Now, if that's clear, leave us alone," he stated firmly, and the crowd parted like the Red Sea. 

Once in the car, door closed and happily speeding away, Tony was yanked down into a kiss. Peter's eyes were bright and his face was flushed when they pulled apart, and Peter whispered low enough so Happy couldn't hear.

"That was really hot."

The way his hot breath tickled Tony's ear made him only eager for more, connecting their lips again. The next day he would see on television the same incident, and take note of how aroused Peter looked when Tony demanded they be left alone. 

When they got back to the compound, Happy seemed more than pleased that the pair were able to scramble to their private room. Tony wasn't even sorry as he devoured Peter, later exploring every inch of the teen with high attention to detail. 

As they laid together in bed, right as Tony's eyes closed for the night, the realization hit him as he took in a change in Peter's scent. 

 _He hadn't used any protection._  


	14. Sequel

The sequel to Reassurance is now up, it is very short but I will be updating promptly and the goal is to complete it before the school year starts. Thank you all for the love and support, it means so much that so many people enjoy my writing. 


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